Ranger's Support Group
by Alyss Mainwaring
Summary: Tales from the various people who have dealings with the Rangers, but aren't Rangers themselves, starting with Old Bob and his anthropomorphised horses.


**These are going to be small chapters about the various people who have dealings with the Rangers, but aren't Rangers themselves, starting with Old Bob.**

 **This story is dedicated not to those who are going through difficult times, but to those who help them, as sometimes I believe those are the people who need the help the most.**

* * *

Bob's family had been looking after the Ranger's horses for many a generation now. His father had done it and his grandfather before that. After six generations it was finally his turn to take over. After being known as Young Bob, he finally wouldn't be regulated to just fixing the food and water for the horses. He would be able to choose which ones would be best for the Rangers and in turn actually properly meet the Rangers themselves.

"I'll stay around for a little while under your guidance, just to make sure that you are fully able to run it," his father, Bob had said and whilst Young Bob didn't really want him there, the sooner he did this, the sooner he was able to run it all by himself. Of course every now and then he would go into his local village to gather supplies and speak to the lovely lady there, but this was where his heart truly belonged.

His father ended up staying for a grand total of six months where nothing changed except for the fact that he was the one looking after everything by himself, occasionally inspected by his father. At the end of that time, Old Bob left for a nice peaceful place with one or two horses and the company of his wife. The Rangers paid enough for him to be able to do so.

Another two months went by with him never seeing any Rangers. This wasn't unusual as there was generally an on peak and off peak time for them to turn up.

He knew when that time was coming as two messengers arrived for him from the town (one being the pretty lady who he invited over for dinner that night, to which she accepted). Each messenger had requests for two different apprentices. The first two were the normal thing he had seen under his father, the requests he hated. A taller, leaner, impressive horse.

Pomp-ass horses, Young Bob called them. They moved like donkeys and were good for even less, he often joked.

Every now and then however, more rarely than the first which saddened him, he got a different request. It asked for a horse that acknowledged passcodes and the commands that they needed. It also asked for a _ranger_ horse. Young Bob smiled. He knew the exact horse for the job it seemed.

Two months after that and the first of the apprentices began to appear. The conversations always went along the lines of this:

"Old Bob!"

To which Young Bob would reply, "I have taken over my father's business."

The Ranger would grunt acceptance and nod as though he cared. Realistically, Young Bob knew he didn't. "Do you have a horse or will I go ask the horsemaster at the castle?"

Bob would show them the horse he had planned and the person would accept it. Even though he didn't like those sorts of Rangers, they were a growing kind and he had to treat them nicely if he wanted to keep his job. That and the fact that no matter what style horse it was, he knew what he was doing.

They would then ride off, all within the same day without even staying for dinner or properly getting to know their horse.

Finally the fourth group turned up. As they had come from somewhere close by, the morning they were planning on turning up later, the Ranger dropped his own horse off to Bob, having spent the last month inside the castle stables.

 _Horrible place for a horse_ , Young Bob thought.

Three hours beyond that the Ranger turned up with his apprentice.

"Crowley, meet Young Bob," Pritchard said with a grin.

"Sir," Crowley said, bowing his head.

"I like this one. Has manners, he has," Young Bob laughed to Pritchard, who laughed in return.

"Only appear to you, I swear."

Crowley was shown the horse and Young Bob and Prichard laughed when he attempted to get on it and was thrown off. They explained about the password and again teased the fairly new apprentice when he repeated it back to them.

"Not to me, to the horse!" laughed Young Bob. Crowley by this time was red. He had thought he had known things about horses, apparently not.

The next morning, after having an impressive dinner cooked by the apprentice, who was a decent cook, the two left.

Young Bob watched them go nodding his head.

"He'll change this world," he told the horse next to him.

* * *

 _A few years later, seven to be more exact, a person appeared unannounced. Not caring who it was as it had become rare for him to get company, Young Bob greeted them anyway._

 _He was delighted to see that it was a few Rangers, more than one and an apprentice._

 _He looked at what the strange man with the odd accent was riding and snorted, not unlike a horse. The other Rangers gave him a nod. The stranger needed a new horse, he would get one._

" _This is Abelard," Young Bob said with a grin. Suddenly, he got the feeling that this man was going to change the world. He was with the other one from six years ago whom Young Bob had the same feeling for and was obviously a close companion._

 _As he watched the stranger's flight through the air, he couldn't help grinning. They were going to institute change._

* * *

 **Many, many years later, too many to count, Young Bob got the same feeling. He had watched the corps be rebuilt and although he had often seen the new Rangers when they realised that their beloved horses deserved a rest, his life had become lonely.**

 **The pretty girl had ended up marrying him, sharing the same love for horses as he did and they had three living children together, all of whom had left him. The eldest, Bob, was returning in a few years, when he had found someone to love him as much as the pretty girl had loved his father.**

 **He wasn't even Young Bob anymore, he was Old Bob, and he felt it. Every movement now wasn't as lively as they used to be, but each one was still carried out with the same loving care as before.**

 **The horses themselves had changed dramatically, every so often receiving new blood from various continents in order to keep them the best horses Old Bob had ever seen.**

 **The stranger from the many years ago returned. Now he knew his name to be Halt, and knew him to be a kindred spirit, someone who appreciated the quiet life as much as he did. Early on a few weeks prior, he had dropped Abelard off to him for some nice down time.**

 **It was obvious that he had an apprentice however but the way he seemed constantly annoyed.**

 **A week later Old Bob got a letter from Halt asking for a horse.**

 **A month later he met the new apprentice and was surprised to see how lanky he was. Quickly and mentally, he exchanged one horse for another, thankful that he had been able to do so. He also spotted the sword and was confused.**

 _ **Change,**_ **he thought and nodded.**

* * *

 _ **Seven years after that, his son had recently returned but was spending the night in town to look after his wife and the birth of their first born child, another Bob. The horses started neighing loudly announcing the presence of another person, or people as the case turned out to be.**_

" _ **This is Old Bob," Halt said in an introduction.**_

" _ **Good morning, Sir."**_

" _ **Calls me sir! Hear that, Ranger, calls me sir! Make a fine Ranger, this one will!"**_

 _ **It had been a while since he had seen this much spirit and excitement at the world. Perhaps he was getting old, but surely the Rangers were stable as they were?**_

 _ **Then why was this one going to change everything?**_

* * *

 **He was getting on in years. There was a letter this year, only one.** _ **After this,**_ **he promised himself,** _ **after this I will retire. My son and his wife can manage.**_

 **He looked up at the pair came towards his house. He had been sitting on his verandah drinking a cup of coffee, a drink the Rangers had influenced him on. He grinned in a happy old man way before standing up.**

 **Both members threw off their hoods before dismounting as they walked their way up to his place.**

 **The spark was gone in the young man's eyes. It distressed him greatly, but when he had noticed it a while ago, he had asked around only to find out that the poor man's wife had passed. Wife? He had questioned for a split second.**

 **It was the strangest thing of all to see this man with an apprentice.**

 **A girl, he suddenly realised.**

 _ **I have seen a lot of change, but this is impressive,**_ **he thought. She was introduced as Maddie, but Old Bob wasn't dumb. He knew she was the crown princess.**

" **What has the world come to?" the questioned the sky as the two rode off. He no longer had to feel the change in an apprentice, it was as clear as day.**

* * *

Longer than I thought it would be. Got away from me. :/


End file.
